David Cameron is under intense pressure to come clean over a referendum on
Europe after Ireland voted decisively in favour of the Lisbon Treaty, paving
the way for EU reform.

Current Tory policy has been criticised as a fudgePhoto: PA

By Patrick Hennessy, Bruno Waterfield in Brussels and Melissa Kite

8:55PM BST 03 Oct 2009

Irish voters backed the Treaty by a majority of more than two thirds, 67.1 per cent to 32.9 per cent, after rejecting it in a referendum last year.

The result puts the Treaty firmly on course to becoming law in all the European Union's 27 member states – although Poland and the Czech Republic still have to ratify it.

If it becomes law throughout the EU it will create, for the first time, an EU president and foreign minister as well as seeing swathes of powers transferred from national governments to Brussels. Tony Blair is the bookmakers' favourite to become the president.

Last night Mr Cameron faced demands from eurosceptics in his own party and abroad to make a firm pledge to hold a referendum in Britain if he becomes prime minister – even if the Treaty has been ratified by all EU member states by then.

Current Tory policy is to pledge a referendum if the Treaty has not been fully ratified – but merely not to "let matters rest there" if it has, a stance which has been criticised as a fudge.

However, Mr Cameron declared in an email to Tory supporters last night on the eve of his party's annual gathering, in Manchester: "I want to make one thing clear: there will be no change in our policy on Europe and no new announcements at the conference."

He said that ratification in the Czech Republic – the subject of a legal challenge to the country's constitutional court – could take "three to six months to resolve".

Mr Cameron added: "If the Treaty is ratified and in force in all member states we have repeatedly said we would not let matters rest there. But we have one policy at a time, and we will set out how we would proceed in those circumstances if, and only if, they happen."

The Tory leader faced renewed demands from his party's right-wing. Bill Cash, the veteran eurosceptic MP, said: "This is a fundamental constitutional principle. David Cameron committed himself when he said he would not let matters rest there. That means a referendum in any event.

"Eighty-eight per cent of people demand a referendum on Lisbon and they have a right to have their say."

Declan Ganley, leader of the Libertas party which led the campaign for an Irish 'No' vote, told The Sunday Telegraph: "David Cameron must now feel the hand of history upon on his shoulder. He has now to decide whether he wants to be a great leader by committing to a referendum or just another prime minister with broken promises.

"This is not a game. He is going to have to stand up against this strangling of democracy."

Elmar Brok, a senior German Christian Democrat MEP close to Angela Merkel, Germany's Chancellor, said that Vaclav Klaus, the Czech President, would not be drawn into defying his own parliament to help Mr Cameron.

"I am convinced that the Czech President will follow the vote of his own parliament and not the wishes of the leader of the opposition in another country, i.e. Great Britain, which has already ratified the treaty," he said.

Mr Cameron's sense of isolation in Europe was fuelled by his decision, earlier this year, to split his party's MEPs off from the main right-of-centre grouping in the European Parliament, the European People's Party, in favour of a new alliance with parties from Eastern European countries, some of which have extremist links.

Last night there were signs his party was embarking on a new strategy which could put a future Conservative government on a collision course with Mr Blair if he became EU president.

Tory sources suggested that if Lisbon was ratified when they came to power they could, instead of holding a referendum on the Treaty itself, stage a public vote on whether powers should be taken back from Brussels. The potential move was being dubbed a "blame it on Blair" plan.

A spokesman for Mr Blair last night repeated the claim that the former prime minister was not currently seeking the presidency. "As we have said time and again on this, there is nothing to be a candidate for since the job doesn't actually exist," the spokesman added.

Leading pro-federalists expressed their joy at the Irish result. Guy Verhofstadt, leader of European liberal MEPs and former Belgian Prime Minister, toasted the outcome with a pint of Guinness in the Kitty O'Shea's pub, opposite the European Commission's Berlaymont HQ in Brussels.

"Today is a very beautiful day for Europe," he said.

José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, said: "My message today is very simple: Thank you Ireland! Ireland has given Europe a new chance."

Gordon Brown said the result was "good for the UK and good for Europe".